A veteran whose dramatic combat story of being fished out of a river in Vietnam by Senator Kerry became a searing image of the 2004 presidential race is taking a public stance against Senator Clinton and her position on the war in Iraq.

James Rassmann, 58, of Florence, Ore., signed a letter along with other veterans protesting Mrs. Clinton’s fund-raising visit to Portland, where an aide said she raised $100,000 for her reelection bid on Friday.

“We think that it is disingenuous at best for Senator Clinton to be campaigning, and specifically to be raising money especially for her Senate race, here in Oregon,” Mr. Rassmann told The New York Sun yesterday. “We think those are Oregon moneys best spent on candidates here in Oregon.”

The retired sheriff’s deputy said he was also upset with Mrs. Clinton for her support for the war in Iraq and her refusal to embrace the call for a quick withdrawal issued recently by Rep. John Murtha, a Democrat of Pennsylvania. “I see this war as a terrible mistake that’s going to put our military back into the state that it was in the latter half of the 1970s when we had a broken military,” Mr. Rassmann, a former green beret, said.

Mr. Rassmann’s tale of Mr. Kerry’s heroism during a 1969 ambush in Vietnam’s Ca Mau peninsula is credited with humanizing the senator and helping him win the Iowa caucuses in 2004. The two men had not seen each other in more than three decades since the rescue, which earned Mr. Kerry a bronze star. The senator’s campaign arranged an emotional public reunion and testimonial from Mr. Rassmann at a Des Moines community center.

Mr. Rassmann said Mr. Kerry has acknowledged that his vote for the war in Iraq was an error, while Mrs. Clinton has not. “I know he feels very strongly that he made a terrible mistake,” Mr. Rassmann said.

In interviews in 2004, Mr. Rassmann described himself as a “lifelong Republican.” He said yesterday that he was registered as Republican throughout his adult life until he switched into the Democratic Party in January 2004. He said he has voted for candidates of both parties.

Whatever Mr. Rassmann’s political allegiances, he is clearly no fan of the former first lady.” Mrs. Clinton has massaged her views to accommodate conservative voters,” the former special forces lieutenant said. “I don’t know that she holds anything near and dear to her except for getting votes.”

The Vietnam veteran said he was not acting at Mr. Kerry’s behest and has no idea whether the Massachusetts senator will enter the 2008 presidential race. “John is very much his own man,” Mr. Rassmann said. “He’s playing his cards very close to the chest.”